If you're a recent college graduate, chances are you're having a difficult time finding a full-time position in your field of study. It's nothing to be embarrassed about – times are tough and opportunities are slim – but you're not alone: According to new census data, though college graduates with degrees in science, technology, engineering or mathematics are more likely than other college graduates to have a job, most don’t work in STEM fields.

On Thursday, the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey released data that showed nearly 75 percent of all holders of bachelor’s degrees in STEM disciplines don't have jobs in STEM occupations. Liana Christin Landivar, a sociologist with the Census Bureau, noted that the Census Bureau does not classify doctors as STEM professionals, which would also affect the overall percentages; she also said there are multiple reasons why students don't get STEM jobs. On a positive note, STEM degrees provide a wide range of career options, as students aren't shoehorned into one particular position. Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, said STEM degrees are becoming “universal degrees” and that the report is not an indication of an oversupply of STEM graduates. (For more on this survey, click here.)

If you're actively considering a career as a physician, you're well aware of the long, rigorous and demanding road ahead. With challenging coursework and fierce competition in the forecast, not everyone is up for the challenge...but that hasn't necessarily translated into fewer students applying to medical school. According to U.S. News & World Report, medical school experts have predicted a shortage of doctors throughout the next decade but no shortage of prospective students. In 2013, total applications increased by 6.1 percent with the average number of applications at the top 10 medical schools totaling approximately 10,645. Check out the top 10 medical schools that receive the most applications for the most recent school year below:

Did your top-choice medical school make the list? If so, would you consider other schools with less competition? For more information on applying to medical school and figuring out how you're going to pay for it, head over to Scholarships.com.

An important consideration when choosing a major is the possibility of gaining lucrative employment following graduation. In a perfect world, the best college major would simply be the one that interests you the most, period. Naturally, your level of interest in the field should be weighed more heavily than any other, as this is something of which you intend to make a career. If you’re really passionate about a certain field that won’t necessarily have you retiring early (social workers, for example, make an average of $39,400 per year), don’t let a potential salary sway you. Helping others or entering a career you love is priceless, and many of the careers below will require some study beyond undergraduate school for you to advance in those fields. But if you have a particular knack for math or science and aren't necessarily sure where those skills would translate best, consider the kinds of careers that could offer a generous return for your investment.

Listed below are the 10 highest-paying college majors as of 2013. The list comes courtesy of the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), which conducts surveys of college graduates’ job offers.Data for the NACE survey are reported by employers, represent accepted starting salaries (not salary offers), and are produced through a compilation of data derived from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. Census Bureau, and a master set of data developed by Job Search Intelligence.

While in the process of conducting your scholarship search at Scholarships.com, you might want to consider one or more of the following majors, just to keep your options open. Our free college search can also help you find colleges and universities that offer programs in any of the top 10 highest-paying college majors.

The decision to pursue a law degree is not one that should not be taken lightly. Analyzing your hopes and needs prior to applying will help you decide whether it’s worth your time, effort and money. It’s also crucial to examine the possible downsides: crippling student debt, high unemployment rates and declining starting salaries. At this point, if you’re still interested in studying law, you might want to consider a law school that’s offering the country’s first “risk-free” juris doctor program.

Following a recent trend among law schools to attract prospective students, the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law at Cleveland State University announced that beginning this spring, a student who decides to not continue law school after successfully completing their first year of studies can graduate with a Master of Legal Studies (M.L.S.) degree without taking any additional courses. And although students with this degree will not be permitted to sit for the bar exam, this approach will provide students with a foundation in law without preparing them to practice. “The new opportunity removes at least some of the financial and personal risk inherent in a large educational undertaking and comes at a time when people appreciate more guarantees,” said Craig M. Boise, Cleveland-Marshall’s dean. He added, “For these students, the first year of law school might have seemed like a waste and a hard-to-explain item on their resumes. Now they can leave with a master’s degree that we believe will be attractive to employers.” (For more on this story, click here.)

Law school hopefuls, does the “risk-free” J.D. program at CSU’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law help quell your anxieties given the weak legal job market? Do you think this program (which is essentially one-third the cost and time of a traditional law program) would be viable or not? Let us know in the comments section.

If you're struggling to come up with ideas for possible majors and post-collegiate careers, looking at majors that are sought after may not be a bad place to start. According to a survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), organizations are most interested in hiring new college graduates with bachelor's degrees in the business, engineering and computer science fields. Nearly 70 percent of the organizations participating in NACE's Job Outlook 2014 survey said they plan to hire business majors and 43 percent said they plan to hire more grads during the fall of 2014 than they did just last year. Here are the top six degrees according to NACE’s findings:

Through the Job Outlook survey, NACE surveys its employer members each year about their hiring plans in order to project the job market for new college graduates. What do you think of the majors that made the list? Any surprises?

Amazon Prime. The power of a dot edu email address is amazing and here’s a great way to get a top-notch service for free for a year. Amazon Prime gives you free two-day shipping on eligible products and one-day shipping for $3.99. This is a sweet deal and I’ve used mine up already on my textbooks for the past two semesters. After the introductory year is up, you get a discounted rate of $39/year down from the original $79/year.

The gym. Membership to your university’s gym is probably included in your tuition and fees anyway. You may as well get up off your butt and use their facilities and sport-specific courts like racquetball, tennis and basketball. Exercise hard and live easy.

Aaron Lin is a chemistry major at Louisiana State University but has plans to transfer to LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans to pursue a medical laboratory science degree and further feed his interest in the application of scientific and medical knowledge. In his free time, Aaron likes to eat food, read and write about food, exercise to work off that food and play the occasional computer game. He also enjoys footbiking, running and Frisbee.

Why could MLS be good for you? Many reasons, actually. There is a shortage of MLS workers, you’ll get to work right out of college and your background in clinical lab will be phenomenal. Depending on where you work, there is room for specialization in certain areas like microbiology (where you’d be identifying microorganisms) or blood banks (where you’d be matching blood types for transfusions); you could also find yourself working in reference labs, public health labs, pharmaceuticals, biotech, forensics, veterinary clinics, fertility clinics, food industry and many more.

If you’re interested in medicine and science, try looking up MLS. It’s a great stepping stone and opens many doors to the health field.

Aaron Lin is a chemistry major at Louisiana State University but has plans to transfer to LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans to pursue a clinical laboratory science degree and further feed his interest in the application of scientific and medical knowledge. In his free time, Aaron likes to eat food, read and write about food, exercise to work off that food and play the occasional computer game. He also enjoys footbiking, running and Frisbee.

Hello! My name is Aaron and I’m going to be writing as a virtual intern here on Scholarship.com’s blog. I’m originally from Lake Charles, Louisiana and though it’s technically the fifth largest city in the state, I still consider myself as coming from a small town. Living in Louisiana and being Taiwanese has made me gain a great appreciation of other cultures and ideas. The most important thing to me though is the food: If you’ve never had home-style Cajun cooking, get down here and try some ASAP.

In my spare time, I enjoy reading blogs, news and various online comics such as Lifehacker.com, bbc.co.uk, and xkcd.com. I’m also recently got into footbiking and consequently I’ve become interested in minimalist running, health and minimalist food, and body weight exercise. While I’m not an expert in any of these things, learning and experimenting is something that I’m living for. We can always better ourselves in one way or another and I’ll be trying to figure that out for as long as I can.

Past: Set up your statement with a captivating hook, then move into a narrative that informs the audience of something unique that happened to you. Reel the reader in with a story that will incite laughter, emotion or invigorating feelings.

Aaron Lin is a chemistry major at Louisiana State University but has plans to transfer to LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans to pursue a medical laboratory science degree and further feed his interest in the application of scientific and medical knowledge. In his free time, Aaron likes to eat food, read and write about food, exercise to work off that food and play the occasional computer game. He also enjoys footbiking, running and Frisbee.

After the hassles of finals, packing up and scrubbing down my apartment, one short stretch of my five and a half hour drive from the east side of Washington to the west makes it all worthwhile. I love pulling off the freeway onto the familiar roads of my hometown and examining which buildings have morphed from restaurants into hair salons and wine bars or back again to restaurants since my last visit. It can be difficult to accept that life back home always goes on without me, but I know one group of people that will always be excited to see me: my family.

Regardless of your family’s dynamic, after several months with limited contact, they will undeniably be glad to see your face. As you notice new wallpaper in the hallway or your increasingly hefty family pooch, your parents may also begin to identify the ways you’ve changed since your last visit home. As I adjust from the independence of college to the restrictions of life under my parents’ roof, however, I often find myself falling back into high school patterns – taking them for granted and setting my expectations of them too high. The best way to manage parental relations is to treat them less like public services or obstacles to your fun and more like a pair of real, adult human beings.

Avoid creating a routine of asking your parents for things. If you need money, food or your oil changed, try to establish those needs early so it does not become a recurring conflict. Be clear in what you are willing to exchange for your parents’ support, whether it’s household chores or just spending more time with them. Also, be sure to set aside time for hanging out with Mom and Dad away from the house. Suggest going to dinner or a movie...and maybe even pay sometimes. Trust them enough to disclose a few imperfect details of your college life. Show them that the new you is even better than the old you, and that you’re still interested in being part of their family.

Allison Rowe is a senior at Washington State University majoring in English and psychology. For the last two years, she has worked for her student newspaper, achieved the status of President’s honor roll every semester and academically excelled to acquire a handful of scholarships and writing awards. She dreams of moving to New York after her May 2012 graduation to dive head first into the publishing industry. In her free time, Allison enjoys cooking, game nights and psychologically thrilling movies. As a Scholarship.com virtual intern, Allison hopes to assist students in maximizing the gains of the college experience.